The Middle East in the Contemporary World (MECW)
Strategic Research Area (SRA) at Lund University
The Middle East in the Contemporary World (MECW) is an interdisciplinary Strategic Research Area (SRA) hosted and coordinated by the Centre for Advanced Middle Eastern Studies. The researchers come from five different faculties at Lund University.
MECW was established through Swedish government funding under the Swedish Government Strategic Research Area Initiative. Scholarship on the Middle East at Lund University was recognised as by the Swedish Higher Education to be “of the highest international quality” and contributing "towards dealing with important societal challenges”.
Research Excellence Areas
Lund University has one of Sweden's strongest and broadest research environments and is recognised as one of the world's top research-led full-scale universities. Over recent years, Lund University has achieved major success in obtaining large research grants. Annually, over SEK 5 billion goes to research across nine faculties. Lund University has also distinguished itself in the allocations of Linnaeus environments and the Swedish Government’s investment in strategic research areas. These successes are largely a result of the interdisciplinary research carried out and the diversity that our full-scale university has to offer.
Read more about Research excellence areas here
Strategic Plan for the Strategic Research Areas 2020-2030
The Vice-Chancellor has approved a new university-wide strategy for Lund University's Strategic Research Areas (SRAs). The allocation of roles and responsibilities is stated for future work. The strategy is based on the University’s collective knowledge and experience of development and governance of these environments, from the first strategic decision to invest in development of a new area to the managing and further development of world-leading strategic research areas.
Scientific Coordination
Karin Aggestam, Professor of Political Science, CMES Director, MECW Scientific Coordinator
karin [dot] aggestam [at] svet [dot] lu [dot] se
Ronny Berndtsson, Professor of Water Resource Engineeering, CMES Deputy Director, MECW Deputy Scientific Coordinator
ronny [dot] berndtsson [at] tvrl [dot] lth [dot] se
MECW Research Themes
The MECW program consists of four research themes:
- Environment and sustainable development
- Security and sustainable peace
- Democratization, migration and sustainable socio-economic development
- Religion, identity and culture
There are no open calls at this time.
Beyond the state-of-the-art
The MECW program is committed to producing research, which moves beyond the state-of-the-art in the field of Middle Eastern studies. The MECW research program also strives to generate much needed information and policy relevant knowledge on the Middle East beyond academia to policy, business, civil society and wider publics.